Getting rid of toys your kid will notice WWYD?

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betty_boom wrote:

Sorry this is not at all hot, but curious what tricks others might have.

My husband's family likes to give large and impractical gifts to my toddler - particularly frustrating since we live in the house my husband grew up in, so they KNOW exactly how little space we have! One of the worst offenders is the giant, 6 foot tall teddy bear that my two year old loves....and never actually plays with. It just sits in her play room taking up an entire corner (and in case you're wondering "why do you have a playroom if your house is so small?" It's a super tiny bedroom, like 10x6 on the first floor that we have no other use for)

So the problem is....I don't really have a way to "put it away" for a few months to see if she asks for it, since it's such a big toy...and I'm pretty sure she'll be upset if I get rid of it even though she doesn't use it. I just can't help but feel that the space this thing is taking up could be put to much better use and I'm wondering if anyone has any smart tricks for getting it out of the house without causing a toddler meltdown!

I have a couple suggestions that have worked in similar situations for my son:

1. For St. Nicholas Day (December 6) we follow the tradition of setting shoes out at night and we put a little toy in my son's shoes for him to find in the morning. We also asked him if he had some toys he was willing to let other little girls and boys have, because St. Nicholas could pick them up when he came by. We didn't push him into anything, and he willingly picked out a handful of toys that we then donated. You could do something like that-just ask if there are some toys she might be willing to let other girls and boys play with.

2. Next time you're going to be away from home on vacation or for a few days, put the bear away right before you leave the house. When you come back, if she asks about it you can just say the bear went away for a little while and see if she keeps asking about it. That separation of being away from home and the item being out of sight when we return has helped us a couple times.

The bear now 'lives' at Grandma's house to play with her there? (haha. Get them back.)

Get a stuffed animal net, and put him on the ceiling? (Or mount him to the wall with straps- if you want to get cutesy, you could make a 'swing' out of a plank and some rope, then tape/sew/glue him to it.)

We currently are dealing with this. In my house, we have a HUGE stuffed gorilla, 2 bears, and a dinosaur. There is NO *** ROOM! The Gorilla finally disappeared last weekend after he started loosing stuffing and was moved to my room until he could get 'fixed.' (never got fixed, and after several months he was forgotten and smuggled out.) One bear lives in the corner, and I've sewn the legs together so that they are like a chair, and he's the 'reading bear' where my son likes to sit and read books. The other bear is the 'play bear' which I encourage rough play with (in hopes that he goes out the same way as the gorilla.) The dinosaur currently takes up 1/2 my son's bed as a 'pillow.' Ugh.

I start by kinda going through stuff of mine that i am willing to part with. I tell my sons "well, mom really likes this, but I don't have the room, or don't use it that much and I think there is someone else who would be able to put it to better use than I can, do you think I should donate it?"

They always say yes and are excited to put stuff in the "donate" box for me. As we're doing this and they see that I'm willing to get rid of some of my things, I say "were gonna do this in your room next too ok, think of somethings we could give to someone else" they're usually really excited to be able to help someone else. And I kinda give ideas. I often mention things I know I don't want them to donate, that way I can start with "well how about your BB-8 robot? No? You don't want to, ok, well how about...." that way they've been able to say no a few times, until I get to the item I really want gone and I say "well, we've already gone down the list, are you SURE we can't part with this?"

for the bear, I'd get a stuffy hammock and hang it high on the wall, then you can put a dresser or shelf under it. We have a stupid giant lion that's just chillin in the spare room. hubby is the offender in not tossing stuff.

for other toys, I'd box them and either stow the boxes somewhere, or keep them boked under s play table. We also have a toy basket that hasn't been touched in weeks. I plan on going through it soon.

I always point out how fortunate my kids are to them. We do lots of donations to less fortunate kids. It’s a good transition. I sometimes will offer a smaller/better/newer toy or thing in exchange for something I’d like to never see again if I’m desperate. Usually just explaining they have so much and allowing them to give works. When we go on vacation we bring a few toys and buy a few toys. Traditionally we leave all the toys before we go for less fortunate kids. My kids enjoy doing that

this might sound harsh, but we’ve had toys like that (not a huge stuffed bear), but large enough to hate after a while. When my kiddo ever went to her grandparents I purged toys. Sometimes she’d have a meltdown or ask but I explained that it went to be loved by another kid.

How old is your toddler? I say just get rid of it and replace with a new toy which will engage her (although perhaps not another massive soft toy ;)). If asked just tell her 🐻 went to see other bear friends or something she might understand. She may be upset for a short while but will get over it faster than you expect, if my experience with my 2 year old is anything to go by.

Thanks all! I'm not sure what direction I'm going to go in quite yet...my grandmother actually offered to hide the bear at her house for a little while when I mentioned to her that I want to get rid of it, so I might go that way!

When I need to purge I tell the kids that we donate the toys that we don’t play with so that we can make room for new toys. Which works especially well around Xmas. Then I might buy them a little new toy to make up for it

I personally don't worry about it if my kids get upset unless it's something they actually use a lot. I have been that way since they were tiny though, if it doesn't get used it gets put up or donated. I don't like clutter. And if they start the who fit throwing thing I either use the "other kids have no toys do were going to give them this, or else I can give them all the other toys and you can keep this one thing" or depending on the situation, "you never use it and I'm sick of it taking up space" lol but my daughter is 7 and my son understands way more than most for his age. In the end of stick with " were helping kids who have nothing" it's a good lesson and a good excuse.

my daughter is 4 and loses her mind whenever we change something in the house or get rid of a toy. Even when it’s not hers. Example- we got a new floor in our kitchen- for weeks she asked when the old one was coming back because she missed it. I haven’t been able to purge toys in a year. We still have baby toys because I can’t get an hour at home without her to do it. My husband doesn’t help either, he always says “well she plays with it still” ugh

my husband is totally useless too! I had a bouncer that was my daughter's. Dug it out for new baby and changed the batteries in it...lights and sound were only kind of working. It was a hand me down when we got it so I was going to get rid of it and buy a new one. My daughter liked playing in it (even though she's WAY too big) so my husband was like why get rid of it? She likes it. Idk cause it's old and literally doesn't work?! (That got hidden and thrown away when NEITHER of them was looking)

I have thrown away tons of stuff. He hasn’t noticed or even batted an eye. He plays with the same 5 things that he’s obsessed with. Because of that and our tiny house, we have repeatedly asked for no gifts or toys for birthdays and holidays. People choose not to listen and he doesn’t play with it so I have no issues getting rid of it.

I’ve had my daughter help me choose what to get rid of. We go through things together and she picks what she doesn’t like. It takes a couple times to really sort through stuff, but that way it teaches her to do it on her own.

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